February 28, 2013

Ecolabels are extremely important because they empower companies and consumers alike to choose more sustainable, environmentally responsible products. Over the past 20 years, the use of ecolabels has skyrocketed, with companies transforming their chemical offerings to more sustainable and healthier options - and the acceptance of ecolabels has been a major player in driving this change.

While I find the proliferation of this phenomenon interesting, it can also be vexing to some. As this article from Chemical & Engineering News explains, green ecolabels are so commonplace that the variety of standards out there can be confusing: a product that meets the standards of one may fall short of another, or how do we even know if an ecolabel is credible. From HSC’s perspective, we want purchasing decisions to be not only the healthy choice, but the easy choice. For that reason, we limit the primary ecolabels that we consider to three broadly accepted standards: Green Seal, US EPA’s Design for the Environment (DfE) and UL Environment's EcoLogo. We commend them for their work on setting a high bar for cleaning chemicals.

Schools and commercial cleaners understand the value of these ecolabels when making purchasing choices. Despite some lingering perception that remains among schools and facilities directors that environmentally sound cleaning products are more costly and not as effective, many are already using green cleaning products and using ecolabels as determinants of what to buy. In fact, I’ve worked with schools that were resistant to purchasing green chemicals only to open up their janitorial closets to see exclusively Green Seal-certified products. Green cleaning is everywhere and, at times, it happens right under our noses! (Literally. Isn’t it nice knowing something can clean safely and powerfully without that overly chemical or floral smell?)

Since we launched the Quick and Easy Guide to Green Cleaning in Schools in 2006, we have seen tremendous strides in the marketplace, and it has been exciting to watch this broad acceptance happen. Nearly every major cleaning manufacturer and supply company now has a set of “green” products.

But how can we improve upon ecolabels and the standards they enumerate?

When the majority of companies are meeting the standards set by the likes of Green Seal and EcoLogo, the standards that were high five years ago have now become the norm. This is good news for the future of green cleaning, but that also means there is always room for improvement. And while standards are updated periodically, is there a way to use the marketplace to continue to improve the quality and sustainable capabilities of green-certified cleaning products beyond ecolabels?

To think about this, let’s consider how labels have affected other consumer behavior: when we go out grocery shopping and try to make healthy choices with the food we buy, we often turn to the nutritional labels to determine the nutritional value and make informed choices. If we want lower fat or sugar content, we can look at the label. Current ecolabels are limited to pass/fail of an entire set of criteria. However, what I’d want to see is the equivalent health and environmental information as we have for fat, sugar, calories and vitamin C. I would want to compare products certified by ULE and compare, for example, how much does a product off-gas VOCs, and how quickly the products break down in the indoor environment.

A system that included this type of information would augment ecolabels and empower an informed consumer. As nutritional labels are supplemented by supermarket resource guides and apps like Fooducate, a similar system could be in place to inform commercial and retail consumers about cleaning products. That’s why I am particularly looking forward to the future of two resources on green cleaning -- ISSA’s cleaning product registry Transpare for commercial products, and GoodGuide for retail products -- and seeing their role in empowering sustainable choices.

Ecolabels have contributed to some incredible strides for the green cleaning movement but there is always room to improve upon past successes. Programs that put more factual information in the hands of purchasers can help drive change in purchasing decisions. We look forward to a bright future for green cleaning and seeing where the bar will be raised next. At Healthy Schools Campaign, we want to not only empower informed, healthy decisions, but also make the healthy choice the easy choice.

February 27, 2013

By giving children the opportunity to garden and experience outdoor learning, schools can boost physical activity, mental health and academic performance. Plus school gardens forge important links to surrounding communities while teaching life and career skills.

Last week, teachers from all over the city who are part of HSC’s Fit to Learn program focused on the hows and whys of starting school gardens during a fun and informative session at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum.

Many local teachers shared the great results from their own school garden projects. Cecilia Ludvik, a physical education teacher and basketball coach at Dawes Elementary School on the far Southwest Side, said their garden wraps around the building and offers educational opportunities for all grade levels. The garden features custom-made raised beds so that students who use wheelchairs could garden alongside other classmates. Another teacher connected the school's gardens with healthy fundraisers. There, the garden grows pumpkins, squash and other autumnal vegetables, which are then sold as part of a harvest festival fundraiser -- a unique answer to the healthy fundraising guidelines in the Chicago Public Schools’ new wellness policy.

The core activity of the evening involved teachers breaking into groups and mapping out all the components needed to start a school garden.

Erin McMillan, from the nonprofit Seven Generations Ahead, provided her expertise and gave three key steps for educators interested in bringing garden projects to their schools:

Start talking to people about interest. Gather a thoughtful, committed team who will be in it for the long haul. Ask about each other’s interests and skills to determine the most effective roles for each person.

Create goals and a timeline. There’s a lot to be done even before the first seed is planted. Establish smaller, gradual goals to more effectively and efficiently manage the tasks ahead.

Find financial support. McMillan noted that Chicago is home to a number of organizations and local and community resources who are interested in promoting school gardens and could potentially assist with funding, as well as local, state and national grants. For a list of upcoming grants and opportunities, you can visit our website or subscribe to the Fit to Learn newsletter.

Team members from Seven Generations Ahead also noted that even schools in areas with contaminated soil, tight spaces, or predominantly indoor space have the capacity to create even a small garden. They suggested repurposing paint buckets, pickle jars, or other containers for raised or indoor gardens, as well as plants that would weather in them more effectively. They also suggested composting as an easy way to manage organic waste and get started, and seeking out local agricultural or horticultural resources for labor.

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Starting a school garden takes a lot of work, but as our Fit to Learn team learned, it sows the seeds for healthy students, a healthy school, a healthy community and a bright future. Thanks to all participants for making this an incredible day!

February 26, 2013

On Thursday morning, more than 150 parents and principals will come together for our 7th annual Principals’ Breakfast for Healthy Schools. At the National Museum of Mexican Art in Pilsen, they will sit down over a wonderful healthy breakfast, but the morning meal is hardly the only point. Since its inception, the Principals’ Breakfast has provided an important avenue for dialogue, networking, synergy for changing policies, a way to celebrate the accomplishments of parents and principals working together, from bringing recess back to elementary schools to providing a shining national example of Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move!” campaign with Go for the Gold, and a way to create a road map to an even brighter future.

Early on in our development of Parents United for Healthy Schools, we were making connections that would help implement new policies. At the time, however, there were no forums for parents and principals to exchange ideas and information. We all felt as though creating dialogue with principals would be an effective way to figure out how new models and policies were going to work.

Connecting Parents & Principals

We held the first Principals’ Breakfast in 2007, as Chicago Public Schools were rolling out new wellness policies. There was no real mechanism for making an announcement and informing parents about what these policies were, why they were important and what role they could play in implementation. We used the morning as an opportunity to introduce mechanisms for the new policy and discuss nutrition. Ever since, parents have had a major role in exchanging ideas with principals, holding schools accountable and leading the way in making sure wellness policies are implemented.

The following year, attendees of the Principals’ Breakfast championed breakfast in another venue: classrooms. From the models presented and perspective of parents, principals saw the importance of Breakfast in the Classroom and went back to their schools with the pilot program model developed by Parents United and Chicago Public Schools. By the following Principals’ Breakfast, 200 schools had Breakfast in the Classroom. The event has also helped lay the groundwork for bringing back recess to all CPS elementary schools, creating healthier school lunch menus and developing a groundswell for people to embrace wellness teams and positive changes.

Going for the Gold

One of our proudest accomplishments to date kicked off at the 2010 Breakfast, where we announced the Go for the Gold initiative in partnership with the HealthierUS Schools Challenge. We committed 25 schools to apply. Go for the Gold is the Chicago-based incarnation of Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move!” campaign. Go for the Gold has been a stellar example of what the national campaign can do locally, on the ground, and provides a model to the nation. Now, more than 71 schools have completed Go for the Gold and been awarded by the HealthierUS Schools Challenge, and 60 more are applying.

The Breakfast has also served as a forum for principals and parents to network with one another. Principals provide models for how these changes have worked in their schools, not only just for other principals, but for the parents. Parents can take these models back to their school administrators and apply them to their school communities. It’s a way of saying, “If this school is doing it, we can do it too.”

Sparking Dialogue for Change

Even more voices have come into the space of the Breakfast. We’ve had state and local politicians, officials, administrators from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Chicago Public Schools administrators present, to name a few, but the most fundamental piece is still the catalyst conversations from our parents and principals and the actions they take together.

Every year, the enthusiasm and drive for change that surrounds the Principals’ Breakfast grows ever larger. This small but committed group has grown to more than 200 people, and between 50 and 60 principals, all of them committed to healthier schools, healthier students and a meaningful exchange of ideas that will start them on that path. Chicago is ready for change, and we hope the Principals’ Breakfast sparks even more important reforms for our schools, communities and our children in the years to come.

February 25, 2013

We
all know the adage about an ounce of prevention being worth a pound of
cure, and in the case of air quality in schools, it may be even more
than that. Dave Blake and Rich Prill, two Indoor Environmental Quality
experts based in the Pacific Northwest, focus on ensuring schools have
the tools they need to put that idea into action by ensuring that
schools are safe and sustainable, with air free of contaminants and
irritants.

Students
miss about 12.8 million school days annually because of asthma and
asthma-related issues, adding another layer of importance to the already
vital need for clean air and proper ventilation in schools.

Blake,
of the Northwest Clean Air Agency over in Mt. Vernon, Wash., and Prill,
a Building Science and IEQ Specialist based in Spokane, Wash., will be
leading an “Indoor Air Quality Walkthrough” Webinar
on February 26 at 1:30 p.m. EST, part of the Environmental Protection
Agency’s “Tools for Schools” educational webinar series. Prill and Blake
have visited more than 1,000 schools, investigating indoor
environmental issues, doing workshops and skill training and have
presented their walkthrough at the EPA’s Tools for Schools symposium.

“Kids
are required to go to school for the most part, but schools aren’t
required to do much in terms of the indoor environment,” Prill says of
the importance of this work. “There’s not much in the way of
school-appropriate standards or guidelines. Schools aren’t industrial
workplaces.”

On
a typical day, the team will take their instruments, including CO2
particle counters, light meters, moisture meters and temperature meters,
and will tour a school and monitor air quality. What gets monitored
gets controlled, and they loan equipment to schools for further
monitoring if need be with the intent that schools will eventually get
their own. When monitoring, they look to make sure a school meets
standards in these five areas:

Staff
training comprises a major part of Blake and Prill’s program. “We don’t
want people to think the worst,” he says. “We want to let them know
we’re there for education and skills training and to talk about the
building inside and out.”

He
says he does not want staff members at a school to feel as though the
program is designed to tell people how they fall short or to regulate
them. Commending staff members on positive practices and reinforcing
pride in their work is an important element, as is providing a wealth of
resources to share with the staff. Transparency is important, too --
measurements are shared at the end of the day so that everyone is on the
same page.

Prill
says the program has been successful so far. The majority of schools
they visit end up adopting some kind of indoor environmental program
instead of just operating the school on breakdown maintenance, or only
dealing with equipment when there is a serious issue. With the focus on
education and tight budgets, facility maintenance can get put on the
backburner, and with limited resources, facilities are often only dealt
with when something goes wrong.

“We
don’t do breakdown maintenance with humans,” he says. “You don’t want
to wait for people to have problems, so you do prevention.”

He
attributes the success of the program to helping teachers, school
administrators and facilities teams understand their buildings, adopt
some prevention policies and guidelines, and guide on-site assessment.

Prill
says he recommends the webinar to anyone working or regularly in
contact with a school, including parents, teachers, administrators,
facility managers, building operators and head custodians.

“Everybody
needs to be on board,” Prill says. “We see teachers bringing in
chemicals, air fresheners, furry animals in the rooms, teachers that
turn off the ventilation system. We need everyone in a school community
to be on board, especially with understanding asthma and
sensitivities.”

He
says it’s important for everyone to know the parameters and standards
for good air quality in a school to protect student health and to be
aware when something is not right, so it can be fixed right away. A
united front and awareness are the keys to prevention, which not only
has health and environmental advantages, but will also financially
benefit tight school budgets in the long run, as fixing equipment or
major ventilation problems will prove more costly in the end.

February 22, 2013

Sunday night, millions of people all around the world will tune in for the film world’s biggest night, the Academy Awards, and more than a few will host a viewing party. We decided to put a healthy twist on this festive Oscar ritual with some delicious and nutritious recipes (plus a few puns -- we couldn't resist!).

Spinach and Argo-choke Dip

There are plenty of great Spinach and Artichoke Dip recipes out there. It’s one of our favorite go-to party foods, a rich, creamy dip full of flavor but also full of veggies, and, when made with key substitutions, a lighter alternative to ranch or Bleu cheese dips. This recipe from Serious Eats is one of our favorites. You could give it an extra protein punch by using Greek yogurt instead of light cream cheese, too. Serve with various veggies (carrots and bell peppers make great companions) or baked whole wheat tortilla chips, a perfect accompaniment to Ben Affleck’s surprise Best Picture favorite.

You’ll Need:

10-ounce bag fresh spinach

6 ounces (3/4 block) 1/3-less-fat cream cheese, softened

6 ounces (3/4 block) fat-free cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup fat-free sour cream

1 1/2 cups part-skim mozzarella, shredded

1 (14-ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

3 garlic cloves, crushed (not minced)

6 tablespoons shredded parmesan cheese, divided

How to Make It: Preheat oven to 350°F.

Tear spinach into bite-size pieces, removing any thick stems. Rinse in a colander, leaving a little water on the leaves. In a large nonstick skillet or Dutch oven, sauté the spinach over medium heat until wilted. Drain in the colander, pushing a little of the extra water out.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the cream cheeses with a potato masher. Add sour cream and mash more. Add spinach, mozzarella, artichokes, pepper, garlic, and 2 tablespoons of the parmesan. Stir everything until thoroughly combined.

Pour mixture into a 1 1/2 quart baking dish. Sprinkle remaining 1/4 cup of Parmesan on top. Bake 30 minutes, or until parmesan is melted dip is all bubbly. Remove from oven and give it a minute or two to cool down.

Beets of the Southern Wild

This pun on Benh Zeitlin’s Beasts of the Southern Wild was almost too obvious, but that doesn’t make this beet and goat cheese salad recipe from AllRecipes any less delicious.

You’ll Need:

4 medium beets - scrubbed, trimmed and cut in half

1/3 cup chopped walnuts

3 tablespoons maple syrup

1 (10 ounce) package mixed baby salad greens

1/2 cup frozen orange juice concentrate

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

2 ounces of goat cheese

How to Make It:

Place beets into a saucepan, and fill with enough water to cover. Bring to a boil, then cook for 20 to 30 minutes, until tender. Drain and cool, then cut in to cubes.

While the beets are cooking, place the walnuts in a skillet over medium-low heat. Heat until warm and starting to toast, then stir in the maple syrup. Cook and stir until evenly coated, then remove from the heat and set aside to cool.

In a small bowl, whisk together the orange juice concentrate, balsamic vinegar and olive oil to make the dressing.

Place a large helping of baby greens onto each of four salad plates, divide candied walnuts equally and sprinkle over the greens. Place equal amounts of beets over the greens, and top with dabs of goat cheese. Drizzle each plate with some of the dressing.

Alternate: If you’re looking for something a bit more snackable, try these super-easy-to-make beet chips. Just slice 2 beets to 1/16 inch thick with a mandoline, toss with a little olive oil and bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees. A delicious alternative to potato chips!

Come to Me, Courgette, The Light Is Fading (inspired by Les Miserables)

Did you know that in France (as well as the United Kingdom and other parts of Europe), zucchini are known as “courgettes?” Well, they are. And “courgette” sounds an awful lot like “Cosette,” one of the main characters of the Oscar-nominated all-star movie musical. And zucchini is a great party vegetable, not to mention full of vitamins. For an easy and delicious snack, follow this great recipe from the "Go Ask Mom" columnist at WRAL:

Place on a wire rack coated with cooking spray on top of a cookie sheet.

Bake for 30 minutes.

Alternate: Les Miserables Fruit Tricolor: Les Miserables provides you with a ton of options to play off of, but the tricolor of the French flag will make for a simple, bold and delicious statement. Consider making individual mini-crumbles for your guests with a graham cracker base, low-fat or vanilla Greek yogurt, and stripes of raspberries or strawberries and blueberries along the sides to echo the colors.

February 20, 2013

HSC's Fit to Learn sessions, which demonstrate how learning can be part of the everyday classroom routine, are usually lots of fun. But our recent session was really electric.

In the auditorium at William Ray Elementary School in Chicago, students jumped and cheered -- a teacher used a big monitor to let kids choose songs from a popular dance video game. Next, everyone joined in the high-energy, on-screen choreography.

The morning fun extended beyond the students, too -- because of Fit to Learn, the group included Healthy Schools Campaign staffers and a dozen principals and faculty members from around Chicago, picking up new strategies about educating a generation of healthier students. The dancing game was just one example of Ray Elementary’s Morning Fitness activities, which take place at the beginning of every school day for 25 minutes, motivating students and getting them active. Other activities include basketball, fitness stations and classroom yoga.

Ray Elementary Principal and Fit to Learn advisory committee member Tatia Beckwith is one of a number of educators from across the city of Chicago who have become part of Fit to Learn, our professional development program for teachers and principals to learn more about ways to incorporate more physical activity and messages about healthy eating throughout the school day. In the advisory committee, local principals provide assistance with the vision, direction and launch of Fit to Learn, providing strategic advice, and helping recruit and mentor other principals.

Jenni Rice, a Physical Education teacher at Christopher Elementary School, attended the event as her school’s Wellness Champion to develop new strategies to bolster her school’s new nutrition and wellness initiative. “Our students do not get enough physical activity throughout their day, and considering the population of our students, both regular education and special education, we felt it could benefit them in increasing their achievement,” she says.

After Morning Fitness, local innovators and experts presented new strategies. Then Carla Tantillo of Mindful Practices, a facilitator of our teacher program, led a fun yoga activity. Allison Slade, founder of Namaste Charter School, shared her philosophy and strategies as well. Learn more about her take on a healthy, fun-filled school day here.

Participating teachers and principals not only gained new insights from the day’s discussions and presentations, but the event also served as a motivator to continue with current efforts or expand upon them.

“The more energy you burn off, the more you’ll be able to sit and focus,” says Gerardo Trujillo, principal at Pasteur Elementary School. (Learn more about yoga for classrooms here.)

Gerardo Trujillo said one of his key takeaways from the day’s events was to work to ensure that he and his teachers led the charge to set an example for students. “You have to practice what you preach,” Trujillo says.

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Our next Fit to Learn Professional Development event, Healthy Habits for Lifelong Learning, will take place Thursday, March 21, at a Chicago Public School to be confirmed in the coming weeks. If you are interested or would like more information, contact Rosa Ramirez at rosa@healthyschoolscampaign.org.

At HSC, we’re thrilled to see parents joining together to improve the health and wellness of their school communities. Earlier this month, Parents United for Healthy Schools/Padres Unidos para Escuelas Saludables brought more than 100 parents from across the city to the National Museum of Mexican Art. Many attending parents have already organized school wellness teams, others attended for the first time after seeing the positive effects of parents coming together and engaging with their schools.

Over a healthy breakfast (prepared by parent member and chef Hilda Cazares), we made some new strides:

PUHS leaders presented members with key information about new wellness policies in Chicago schools, among them the new Snack and Beverage Policy.

Healthy Schools Campaign Vice President of Urban Affairs Guillermo Gomez encouraged parents to take leadership at their schools by bringing together principals, wellness team champions and other parents to ensure that these new wellness policies are implemented successfully.

We empowered parents to be reinforcers of new wellness policies, including advocacy for healthy school fundraisers, quality recess and physical activity programs, and healthier school meals.

We were excited to see all participants, including local school council member Jose Hernandez, a parent who previously served on a Chicago Public Schools recess task force; Raquel Reyes, a local school council member from Daley Academy; and wellness team member and Liliana Hernandez, a local school council member at Eli Whitney Elementary and wellness team parent leader.

We at Healthy Schools Campaign look forward to the great things that parent leaders will accomplish in 2013!

Learn more: Read our recap of the tremendous progress that Parents United for Healthy Schools/Padres Unidos para Escuelas Saludables made in 2012.

February 19, 2013

Going green is nothing new to Portland Public Schools (PPS). The custodial team has been using green cleaning supplies for more than a decade after making the switch in 2001, but the district, which serves more than 47,000 students, continues to make impressive strides. With the introduction of new materials, an adopted Process Cleaning program and most of all, a staff that works as a team and cleans for health rather than for shine, we were thrilled to announce PPS as the Silver winners of the 2012 Green Cleaning Award.

Every year, the Green Cleaning Award winners demonstrate best practices around green cleaning, galvanizing their school communities around the idea that all students, faculty and staff deserve a healthy place to learn and work. The annual award, presented by American School & University magazine, Healthy Schools Campaign and the Green Cleaning Network, recognizes schools with excellent and innovative programs on cleaning for health without harming the environment. Winners are judged based on the five simple steps to green cleaning outlined in HSC's Quick & Easy Guide to Green Cleaning in Schools.

Portland had many challenges to face at the start of the year, as many districts do in these trying economic times. According to Director of Facilities Operations Thomas Adams, the district had to cut the number of custodial staff in half, meaning more work and more space to cover in less time. Adams and his team made cleaning for health their priority, and adopted the trademarked, standardized Process Cleaning for Healthy Schools method to increase productivity without compromising cleanliness or student health. They have incorporated certain items into the process, including a spray-and-wash vacuum cleaner for bathrooms, and microfiber, which Adams says has been a much better fit for a common task like window-cleaning than the traditional rag-and-water job.

But it’s more than about the process. It’s about the people. Adams said a cornerstone of his green cleaning program is the training and team building, and in particular cultivating the mindset of his custodial staff. Custodians are often the most underappreciated employees of a school system, and Adams has empowered his team to recognize and see the value in their work. And for good reason: as the people in charge of cleaning, they play an essential role in a healthy and successful school environment. He said employees see themselves as part of a team who care deeply about what they do. Cleaning the school is not merely seen as sanitation duty, but as customer service. And that attitude and sense of validation and commitment leads to better results, a healthier, greener school and a stronger team.

And for the team, the commitment to a healthy school doesn’t end with the clean-up. Adams said he and his staff are planning on rolling out an initiative to encourage more diligent handwashing throughout Portland Public Schools, including signs in the bathrooms and coordinating efforts with teachers and school nurses.

February 18, 2013

Today we're featuring a case study from Health in Mind, a new report from HSC and Trust for America’s Health (TFAH), which details immediate solutions that can help close the achievement gap and create a healthy future for all children. Here, we learned about how one school works with parent leaders to jumpstart new initiatives that improve student wellness.

By Kadesha Thomas

For school principals, every priority related to student achievement is the top priority. No factor that influences student learning can become an afterthought, especially not student health and wellness. Fortunately, Principal Michael Heidkamp, at Nathanael Greene Elementary School on Chicago’s Southwest side, can lean on the leadership of his school’s wellness team to integrate health and wellness into the school’s culture.

The Greene Elementary School wellness team is composed of people with a deeply personal and powerful influence over the students—the parents. “As the principal, sometimes you can get very myopic in the sense that you’re getting pressed for test scores and short-term gains and short-term results,” Heidkamp explained. But his students’ parents are constantly emphasizing that “their child’s experience is so much more than that.”

The parents on the Greene Elementary wellness team are members of Parents United for Healthy Schools/Padres Unidos para Escuelas Saludables. Parents United/Padres Unidos is a coalition of more than 40 parent and community groups dedicated to bringing healthy eating and physical activity to Chicago schools, particularly those in Latino and African-American communities facing significant health disparities. Parents United/Padres Unidos, led by the Healthy Schools Campaign, equips parents to advocate for policies and programs that promote healthy eating and active lifestyles in their schools by educating parents on best practices around nutrition and physical activity. Parents United/Padres Unidos also trains parents on strategies for organizing effective school wellness teams and provides ongoing support as parents lead these teams to transform schools.

The wellness team came together at Greene Elementary School after Karena Macedo, a parent on the team, led the school to become certified with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s HealthierUS School Challenge, an effort First Lady Michelle Obama is promoting to combat childhood obesity. Macedo even represented her school at a White House celebration the First Lady hosted to honor schools that achieved this certification.

Jovita Flores, Healthy Schools Campaign’s manager of Parents United/Padres Unidos, sat down with the wellness team at Greene Elementary in March 2012 to reflect on a recent initiative, the school’s first health and wellness resource fair. The event featured health education, food demonstrations, and physical activity—all focused on what Principal Heidkamp describes as the school’s goal of “creating a new normal” around healthy living.

Community agencies provided glucose, blood pressure, and vision testing at the fair, along with instructions for follow-up services. The fair also incorporated nutrition education, demonstrating small steps parents could take to improve their family’s diet. Lunchroom manager Christina Hernandez and a parent/wellness team leader, who is also named Christina Hernandez, taught parents how to make smoothies with fruit and vegetables. “Nobody knew the vegetables were there and they were amazed,” Heidkamp said. “Kids were coming back for more!”

More than 300 people attended and plans are already underway for next year’s event. Heidkamp said parent leadership has been key to prioritizing health and wellness at the school. The wellness team connects parents and school administrators by creating structured activities to promote student health.

During the most recent school year, the wellness team helped revamp the afterschool program. It now includes yoga, several running clubs, folkloric dance, soccer and other seasonal sports. “A good twenty-five percent of our student body is engaged in some sort of exercise in addition to a strong physical education program,” Heidkamp said. Such opportunities did not exist during the previous school year. “Kids are making the choice to participate. Adults are making the choice to participate, and parents are making the choice to take on the leadership role in increasing the resources that are available and really challenging the culture.”

The wellness team is also preparing to tackle classroom celebrations that often lead to a frenzied sugar high, then an energy drop, when parents bring sweets like cupcakes and brownies. “It’s important that parents are speaking to other parents about that, not just administrators,” Heidkamp said.

Leveraging the influence of dedicated parents on the wellness team has been the school’s most effective strategy for posing healthy lifestyle changes to parents. “It’s a decision by the community for the community,” Heidkamp added. “It’s much more about ‘this is why,’ and ‘this is the change that I’m making with my child and that you can make with your child.’”

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As the year progresses, we'll share more about Health in Mind and the progress of this initiative! For more information or to view the full report, please visit www.healthinmind.org.

February 15, 2013

At HSC, we're always looking for new ideas to make fitness a fun part of the school day and an integral component of the school community. Here, we learn how Hamilton Elementary School transformed its entire school building into a fun fitness challenge, setting a great example for students in the process.

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At Hamilton Elementary School in Chicago, faculty members on the school’s wellness team, including preschool teacher Nichole Moos, physical education teacher Steve Skweres and 1st grade teacher Liz Busch, launched an activity to motivate their colleagues to get fit and have fun.

Skweres suggested doing Hustle Up the Hancock, an annual charity race where participants climb the stairs of the iconic John Hancock Building. This was a little too ambitious, so the team decided to scale it down and create a similar event in their three-floor school building -- and Hustle Up Hamilton was born.

Staff members start at the first floor, walk or run up two flights of stairs to get to the gym, walk or run through the gym and then come back down the stairs. This counts as one circuit, and the goal of the event is to see how many circuits you can complete in a half-hour time limit. Moos even made a playlist for the event with all the staff’s favorite high-energy songs, on which they were delighted to include Principal James Gray's choice, ‘90s hit “Pump Up the Jam” by Technotronic.

The planners agreed that the day was a success! Staff members at all levels of fitness participated, from those who were running marathons to those who found a challenge in climbing stairs. Some chose to walk and others ran the whole time, and everyone had the opportunity to get active and set some goals. They said everyone was surprised by how many laps they could do. Skweres says goal-setting was a key element to the exercise, and even if staff members could only complete one circuit, that was okay.

“The purpose isn’t so that everyone gets really skinny,” Moos added. “Fitness looks different for every single person, and we were asking people to set goals and try to stick with them.”

All three staff members emphasized the importance of the students seeing the teachers promoting fitness and setting a positive example.

“My kids were actually here on Friday when we did it,” Busch says. “The kids come on professional development days and they got to watch us run the first half of it. They were giving us high-fives and when I got to the classroom, they asked if I won the race, and I said, ‘We weren’t winning, we were doing it together.’ It’s good for us to be models for our students.”

This is the first year Hamilton Elementary has had a wellness team, and they’ve already put together some fantastic initiatives in addition to Hustle Up Hamilton. There’s the ongoing, all-levels staff yoga class led by a yoga instructor parent, an upcoming professional development day where Purple Asparagus will lead a healthy cooking demonstration for staff and mental health-promoting activities including “warm fuzzies,” where teachers give compliments and do random acts of kindness for one another. Ideas in the works include a basketball tournament to raise money for wellness programming and a professional development session on reading labels. Hamilton also plans to work towards the highest levels of success in meeting the HealthierUS Schools Challenge.

The team is looking to hold Hustle Up Hamilton again at the end of the school year to see how much the runners have improved, and anticipate many more great opportunities for fitness and fun. “We were professional athletes that day,” Moos jokes.

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Thanks to Hamilton Elementary for sharing their story with us! Tell us: Could you replicate this great idea at your school?

February 14, 2013

The classroom Valentine boxes are ready, the card stores are a sea of red and you can almost hear Sam Cooke’s “Cupid” everywhere you go. It must be Valentine’s Day again. Last week, we offered some suggestions of how to have a fun and fit Valentine’s Day party at school, and we hope that you learned something new and maybe even tried a new idea or two.

Here’s one last extra special treat for today -- a healthy recipe for the holiday culled from our explorations on Pinterest. Thanks to les petits presents for the idea, and we hope you have as much fun making and snacking on these beautiful, fun fruit pops (with, if desired, a Greek yogurt dipping sauce) as we did! We love these because they’re colorful, festive, encourage trying new fruits and you can get creative! You can use any combination of fruit for a rainbow of possibilities. If you have to have chocolate (and again, a little bit is okay), a drizzle of dark chocolate on these pops will pique the interest of picky eaters without the sugar rush February 14 usually brings. And add a happy Valentine’s Day message by attaching a note to the stick for a memorable and heartfelt treat.

You’ll need:

For the kebabs:

A knife

A heart-shaped cookie cutter (optional, but very helpful)

Skewers or ice-pop sticks

Red ribbon

½ - 2 each of the melon of your choice

Other fruits: apples, pears, kiwis, starfruit -- whatever fruit you have on hand or is in season near you

For the dipping sauce:

1½ cup Greek yogurt

honey (per your desired sweetness)

Flavor additions of your choice - lemon or orange zest or cinnamon are good standbys, again to taste

Dipping sauce, variation:

For a more decadent treat, playing off a great recipe from Mix It Up, add 2 tsp cocoa powder and 1 tbsp melted dark chocolate chips to the yogurt, and honey and cinnamon to taste if desired

If you want to get more creative with the Greek yogurt dips, Yummly has a nice variety of more elaborate options, including Vanilla Bean and Cranberry.

February 13, 2013

School nurse Saria Lofton keeps her students safe and active on the playground.

Forty percent of school-age children miss three or more days of school per year due to illness, and it isn’t just the flu -- chronic illnesses such as diabetes and asthma are more common and remain unmanaged. Mental and emotional health issues urgently need addressing as well.

Although all children have the potential to achieve in school and deserve a great education, children who suffer from unmanaged conditions and illnesses are more likely to fall behind.

At HSC, we believe in increasing funding and access for school nurses and health services. One critical avenue that can lead to progress? The clarification of the free care rule.

What is the free care rule?

School nurses should be reimbursed for their work, as they would be for working in a doctor’s office. But HSC believes that a misinterpretation of the free care rule is standing in the way. The free care rule states that Medicaid funds may not be used to pay for services that are provided for free to everyone in the community. For example, if all children in a school receive hearing evaluations, Medicaid cannot be billed for the hearing evaluations provided to Medicaid recipients unless all students, regardless of insurance status, are billed for the services as well.

Why is the free care rule standing in the way of student health?

As currently interpreted, the free care rule requires that schools bill a variety of private insurers as well as Medicaid, creating a tangled web of paperwork that many schools can’t even begin to navigate.

How can we make positive change for student health?

HSC believes that a simple clarification will make a big impact. We’re asking lawmakers to clarify that the free care rule does not apply to schools. In fact, schools should bill Medicaid for the services they are providing.

Why is this clarification of the free care rule so important?

School health services, when properly funded, can be a lifeline. School nurses provide critical health services in schools across the U.S. -- they’re not just for Band-Aids and saltines, despite the stereotype.

Kentucky is one state where schools are permitted to bill for health services through Medicaid, and therefore can in part provide more funding for school nurses. In large, rural Hopkins County, nurses received more than 33,000 visits, with more than 6,000 unique ones among the county’s 14 schools. Attendance and immunization rates improved, as has the Early Periodic Screening, Diagnosis and Treatment (EPSDT) rate.

As Alexis Seymore-Dawson, a teacher in the area, explained, “School health is often the only health care my students receive.”

Results can be seen in urban school health, too. San Jose Unified School District was part of a five-year demonstration placing full-time school nurses at two elementary and two middle schools and linking them with an FQHC-certified school health clinic. The results were remarkable: a dramatic decrease in ER visits for asthma, a decrease in student absences and the school district saved thousands in Average Daily Attendance funding.

What is HSC doing to clarify the free care rule?

HSC is continuing to engage with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to allow for and implement this increase in funding for school health professionals.

How can I help?

We encourage parents, teachers, nurses and community members to take a look at our Health In Mind report, created in partnership with Trust for America’s Health, detailing recommendations to Secretaries Arne Duncan and Kathleen Sebelius on how to incorporate health and wellness into education policy. Look into your own schools and communities. See if there is a focus on school health; learn whether a nurse or other professional is present in your school, and discover what kind of health initiatives are already offered. Together, we can take even more steps for healthier schools and students through the amazing work of school nurses.

February 12, 2013

Often the most innovative, honest and forward-thinking perspectives on how to improve school food come from the students themselves. As the ones closest to the action, students are leading the charge for a healthier menu and sparking conversations in cafeterias across America.

The Earth Day Network had been working on a number of initiatives to promote healthier school food, with various student engagement elements, such as a poster contest encouraging students to depict what a healthy lunch looks like. This year, the network is launching its first-annual Sustainable School Food Journalism Awards, where intrepid student reporters report on nutrition and food issues inside their school with input from their peers.

“We wanted to get high school students to learn about these issues from each other,” says John Maleri, Associate Director of Earth Day at the Earth Day Network. “We wanted them to utilize journalism as a way for students to talk to other students and start a dialogue.”

Maleri says the contest came about as the team was evaluating the new set of standards for school lunches that the United States Department of Agriculture proposed in 2010. Contest organizers specifically wanted students to talk to each other about nutrition issues and be a resource for one another and have their voices heard instead of having an outside adult come in for an initiative. School newspapers, as a “by students, for students” resource students use to stay informed and voice opinions, proved an effective outlet.

Students have brought some great ideas and pressing topics to the table. One issue that has frequently recurred in assignments is the new calorie limit imposed on school lunches, which students approach with varying perspectives, as student reporters understand the pressing issue of adolescent obesity, but are hearing from their peers that they don’t feel satisfied with the lower-calorie meals. Maleri says student reporters should look at all areas of an issue, but student perspective may be the key to making further improvements.

“We’re encouraging them not to be totally critical and look at it in context,” Maleri says. “And students have brought some really interesting ideas to make it successful.”

So far, the Earth Day Network has received responses from all over the country.“Just yesterday, I received an email from a student in Puerto Rico,” Maleri says. “The contest is open to all U.S. high school students, and we’d love to have everyone participate. We didn’t imagine it would reach this far, and they’re asking if they can contribute in Spanish. The response is really wonderful.”

The competition is open for high school students ages 13-18, who have written about healthy, sustainable school food for their school newspapers. Best-selling author and food journalist Michael Pollan will select the winners, and the University of California-Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, where Pollan is an adjunct faculty member, is one of the partners of the competition.

Six finalists will receive cash prizes--$1500 for first prize, $1,000 for second, $500 for third and $300 each to three fourth-place finalists--along with $200 to support their journalism class or student newspaper. The competition is a fantastic opportunity for exposure for budding writers as well--the winning articles will be published at the Earth Day Network’s website and broadcast out to their followers all around the world. Contest deadline is February 28, 2013, and students can submit their articles on the Earth Day Network website.

“We’re looking to spread the contest as far and wide as we can,” Maleri said. “Students are getting excited to write these articles.”

February 11, 2013

Today we're featuring a case study from Health in Mind, a new report from HSC and Trust for America’s Health (TFAH), which details immediate solutions that can help close the achievement gap and create a healthy future for all children. Here, we learned about how parents and schools are working together to make student health a priority in Santa Ana Unified School District.

In 2009, Santa Ana Unified School District started a six-week training program for parents to lead school recess breaks.

by Kadesha Thomas

In Santa Ana Unified School District, active parents and physically fit students go hand in hand. Since 2009, the district has partnered with Kid Healthy, a nonprofit that works with California’s Department of Education on school health and wellness, to develop a pilot program called Parents in Action/Padres en Acción. The program trains parents to engage students in recess activities throughout the district’s elementary schools. On any given day, about eight parents can be seen running laps, playing T-ball or hula hooping with students on the playground during recess.

The program began after school leaders and parents decided to do something about the rising obesity and diabetes incidence among students, said Jackie Teichmann, executive director at Kid Healthy. This was especially important for the district’s primarily Latino student population, who are at an especially high risk for health disparities. School leaders also noted that mothers in the district, many of whom are full-time homemakers, wanted to play a bigger role in their children’s education.

“Giving parents ownership over the program instills a lot of pride,” Teichmann said. “And once the parents get that pride, they get very creative.”

For six weeks, parents are trained by other participating parents on school wellness policy requirements, how to play an active role in the school system, playground management and conflict resolution, and student motivation. Parents work with coordinators in the schools’ physical education departments to develop recess activities that will keep students engaged while working up a sweat. “They are not out there to be policemen,” Teichmann added. “They learn how to manage the kids. Pretty soon the kids aren’t fighting because they are playing so hard.” Parents set up activity zones on the playground to suit all students’ interests, such as basketball and soccer for sportsloving students or hula hoop and jump rope for those who prefer aerobic activities.

The program started in two schools with eight moms, then added three schools the following year. So far, more than 125 parents have been trained to be Parents in Action. In 2012, Kid Healthy expects to increase the total number of schools to nine. “Many of our elementary schools are enthusiastic about the Padres En Acción program on our sites,” said Roxanna S. Owings, Director of Special Projects at Santa Ana Unified School District. “Schools that don’t have the program asked about it, and it has done wonders for students in that their recess is structured and allows for physical activity to occur. Students are getting a workout and don’t even know it!”

Physical activity during the school day can actually boost academic performance, reduce stress and regulate mood swings, according to a January 2012 study in Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine. Not only does the program boast a 98 percent recess participation rate among students, but principals and teachers have also reported a drop in disciplinary action after the Parents in Action recess periods.

“There’s much less fighting on the campus and fewer kids going to the office,” Teichmann said. “Kids are much more engaged.” The program has also empowered parents. Teichmann explained that parents have lost weight, developed confidence and now have an open door of communication with principals and teachers. “Some of our moms had a stay-home-and-hide mentality

This has drawn them out of their homes and given them a voice that some have never had. One mom was just in tears because she had never been comfortable talking to her child’s teacher, but now she can. Parents feel so important because the schools recognize their efforts,” Teichmann noted.

As Kid Healthy seeks to expand the program throughout the Santa Ana Unified School District, Teichmann said the biggest challenge has been securing funding to implement the program in all the schools that are demanding it. “Anyone who hears about the program wants it in their schools, especially principals. They are totally behind this,” Teichmann said. “They all talk about how much it means for the children’s health and classroom performance to have parents on the campus.”

February 08, 2013

For parents and teachers, Valentine's Day -- which traditionally involves colossal candy and cupcake consumption -- can cause a quandary. Many schools already have dietary restrictions on snacks for classroom celebrations to accommodate for children with nut or dairy allergies, and some school districts are adopting healthy snack and beverage policies for class parties.

So we’ve compiled a few naturally sweet tips to help parents and teachers create a fit and fun Valentine’s Day classroom party. And for even more tips, visit our Healthy Classroom Valentine’s Day board on Pinterest!

Naturally Sweet

Fresh fruit will provide sweetness and festive colors without the sugar rush of candy.

Create fun fruit kebabs or carve pineapples, melons, kiwis and more into heart-shaped “lollipops” with popsicle sticks on the end for a colorful treat, or make your own granola bars for a more filling snack.

If you must keep chocolate on the menu, we recommend this snackalicious chocolate-dipped fruit chips recipe that uses antioxidant-rich dark chocolate instead of the standard milk chocolate.

Some parents and teachers have gotten creative and made little valentine robots, using fruit juice boxes for the bodies (watch for sugar content of the juice), applesauce-container heads, raisin box feet, pretzel rod arms and googly eyes to make a funny face. Or provide natural fruit juice with a fun caption, like “You are BERRY sweet!”

Great Giveways

There are plenty of cute, fun and affordable giveways and incentives that don’t involve tons of candy. Heart-shaped erasers, red mini race cars, bookmarks and friendship bracelets are some food-free options.

Fit and Fun

In addition to being the month of Valentine’s Day, February is also, fittingly, American Heart Month! A few ideas for heart health include:

The American Heart Association has resources for schools to host Jump Rope For Heart (a day of jump rope and Double Dutch games) and Hoops For Heart (a basketball tournament) to raise awareness about how to stay healthy and prevent heart disease. Kids will love the opportunity to play and get active and may learn a thing or two about creating healthy habits for life.

This Spell-A-Heart game promotes early literacy in a fun, active way (and couldn’t be easier to make!), or have students go on a scavenger hunt around the school to look for letters that will spell a Valentine’s Day-related word, like “HEART” or “CUPID.”

If you’re teaching language arts or Spanish, hold a tasting of various fresh fruit or vegetable samples for the class and, as an avenue for talking about the joys of healthy eating, have them write poems about their favorite fruit or veggie. Use Pablo Neruda’s classic poem “Ode to Tomatoes,” published in English and Spanish for easy translation, as a jumping-off point. For more on promoting healthy lifestyles through fun, seasonal activities, check out our Fit To Learn program.

Do Good, Feel Good

We shouldn’t forget that mental and emotional health are important for building healthy, successful adults. A few tips:

Have students create “Cupid’s Compliment Cups,” where students decorate containers and then write one thing they admire about each of their classmates to put in their Compliment Cup. Not only will students beam with pride and joy at the positive affirmations from their classmates, but they will enjoy the opportunity to make someone else feel great, too!

Or, you can extend the theme of love to the community and the world at large. Have students craft, decorate and send homemade Valentine’s Day cards to local families, seniors or recent war veterans, or partner with an organization like Project Linus, where fabric squares are the canvas for students’ Valentine-themed art, and made into quilts and blankets given to people who need them around the country. Spreading the love will make everyone feel good!

Next week, we'll share another healthy Valentine's Day treat recipe!

Related, a post on the USDA's proposed national standards for competitive foods.

February 07, 2013

On Thursday, guests at Los Angeles Trade Technical College were treated to quite a meal, as students from six L.A. public high schools sliced, diced their way through the city’s first Cooking up Change competition. José Landaverde, Maribel Sandoval and Esther Zegura, three culinary students from West Adams Preparatory High School (home of the mighty Panthers), won the inaugural L.A. competition with a delicious menu of Tex-Mex Corn Bread, Black Bean & Cucumber Mountain Salad and a Warm Pear and Raisin Delight.

“I wanted to be a part of the team and I wanted to be involved in the school,” Esther Zegura says. “I also wanted to change the way I look at food and change how I eat and how my family eats.”

José Landaverde agreed, adding that he was excited to have the opportunity to make an impact. “I wanted to be a part of the competition to be part of a change, not just in California, but all over the country,” he says.

But before they got to the main event, Zegura says, they had to compete with their peers and come up with a menu. She said one of the biggest challenges was creating a balanced menu from only 10 ingredients. Maribel Sandoval said their menu was voted on by their peers before being chosen to represent the school and was selected for its originality.

“We are students, so we wanted to make something we would want to eat and our friends would want to eat,” Sandoval said. “We thought if we made something out of the ordinary, other students would be curious about it and want to try it.”

Student chefs from five other high schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District contributed delicious dishes to the city’s Cooking up Change competition. Meals were:

The team from West Adams will join winning teams from Chicago, St. Louis, Santa Ana, Denver, Jacksonville, Winston-Salem, Memphis and Washington D.C. in the national Cooking Up Change competition at the U.S. Department of Education on June 10th. In addition to the trip to D.C., students win cookware, knife sets and culinary scholarships.

The students were so excited to talk about their day and the experiences that it was hard for them to pin down one favorite moment. Maribel Sandoval said she most enjoyed meeting the judges. “Working with my team was the best,” Esther Zegura said. “It was all so exciting. I was speechless.”

José Landaverde says he really enjoyed working with his supportive teammates. “They kept on pushing me and telling me not to give up, and it paid off,” he says.

Their entire school community is thrilled, too. Returning to school after a long day at the competition, the winning students pushed open their school’s doors and were greeted by shouts of, “We won!” followed by a shower of cheers and applause.

February 06, 2013

Parent Hilda Cazares, a vital member of Parents United for Healthy Schools.

As parents file in to the Parents United for Healthy Schools meeting, they are greeted with an enticing breakfast featuring a rainbow of fresh fruits, roasted peppers, a vegetable-egg casserole and much more. Standing behind the trays and heaters is the chef at work, Hilda Cazares, greeting the familiar faces and assuring them that all the ingredients are natural. She’s trying out a new recipe, an oatmeal cake with a mixed berry sauce, which the parents at the meeting eagerly take back to their tables to sample.

Hilda is a passionate and involved organizer and advocate -- you may have seen her share her story on our blog. She found out about Healthy Schools Campaign while serving on the local school council and the Parent Advisory Council in her community. At the meetings, meeting organizers would bring in coffee and sugary pastries, and Hilda saw an opportunity for parents to set the example for how they wanted their children to live.

“It started with my family,” Hilda says. “My mom is in her eighties. She was obese and suffering from epilepsy; my son was overweight and my daughter was overweight. I needed to learn how to make changes. I started doing this with my family and wanted to share with other parents. When you’re involved with schools, you want to bring something good and different for everyone.”

Hilda was interested in cooking, and she found an opportunity in her meetings with the parent-group clusters, where she found breakfast fare to be sugary pastries. She suggested a change, and others suggested she take the reins. With the support of her family, including her husband, a fellow chef (which creates an interesting competitive dynamic, she noted), she applied for a cooking course through Chicago Community Kitchens and after the full-time, four-month program developed a passion for creating fresh, healthy recipes.

“What motivates me is that the parents are happy,” she says. “That keeps you moving, because cooking has a lot of challenges and is a lot of work. You have to find good products. You have to find something the parents will like. I overheard one lady say, ‘You know, I don’t really like eggs, but these are good!’ This motivates me.”

But the real transformations happened at home. When Hilda cooks for her family now, she cooks using more fruits and vegetables and has gotten her family interested in healthier eating. Fast food is no longer a staple, and her parents and children are healthier. “My family started changing, especially my mom. She’s healthier, no diabetes, her epilepsy is very rare, and my daughter, son and I lost weight, too."

Hilda advises her fellow parents and community members to educate themselves about healthy foods and begin gradually changing bad habits while encouraging their children and family members to do the same. She says cooking healthy food together is a great way not only to learn positive lifestyle changes, but to spend some quality time together and learn from one another. “My grandson is going to be three years old, and he will pull a chair to get closer to the kitchen so he can check on the food,” she says with a laugh. “I told my husband, ‘We have a future chef over here.’"

Every year, the Green Cleaning Award winners demonstrate best practices around green cleaning, galvanizing their school communities around the idea that all students, faculty and staff deserve a healthy place to learn and work.

This annual award, presented by American School & University magazine, Healthy Schools Campaign and the Green Cleaning Network, recognizes schools with excellent and innovative programs on cleaning for health without harming the environment. Winners are judged based on the five simple steps to green cleaning outlined in HSC's Quick & Easy Guide to Green Cleaning in Schools.

February 04, 2013

Today we're featuring a case study from Health in Mind, a new report from HSC and Trust for America’s Health (TFAH), which details immediate solutions that can help close the achievement gap and create a healthy future for all children. Here, we learned about a teacher at McCutcheon Elementary School in Chicago who teaches her students about healthy choices through HSC's Fit to Learn program.

Karen Jasinski sees all the early warning signs in her students—the hot chips and donuts for breakfast, washed down with a jug of blue juice. She sees the childhood obesity that leads students to develop type two diabetes by seventh or eighth grade, not to mention added complications from asthma and other chronic conditions.

Jasinski teaches health and fitness to more than 350 students, pre-kindergarten through eighth grade, at McCutcheon Elementary School on Chicago’s North Side. She gets two 45-minute classes with them each week, and the school does not have a gymnasium onsite.

Recognizing the need for more health education and fitness education, Jasinski enrolled in Fit to Learn. Healthy Schools Campaign created the Fit to Learn professional development program in October 2010. The program offers a series of full-day and half-day sessions to equip P.E. teachers, health teachers and core subject teachers with a roster of techniques and all necessary materials for incorporating health and fitness lessons into any subject and any school environment. “We can’t change [the students’] chemical makeups, but we have to make changes if they’re not learning it at home,” said Jasinski, who completed Fit to Learn in May 2012.

Since launching, more than 130 Chicago public school teachers have participated in Fit to Learn. “With the limitations teachers face throughout the day and the specific curriculum guidelines they have to follow, it’s hard to be flexible or incorporate fitness into the lessons,” explained Kristi Cox, training and program manager at Healthy Schools Campaign who leads Fit to Learn. “Our program is a simple way for teachers to introduce fitness to students and let them know it’s important, while still meeting guidelines and learning standards.”

The program trains teachers to make exercise and nutrition lessons a regular part of the classroom experience. It’s the difference between sitting at a desk to do a spelling lesson or playing the Nutritious Words game, one of Jasinski’s favorites. This exercise requires students to stand as the teacher tosses a multicolored beach ball around the classroom. The student who catches the ball has to name a fruit or vegetable that is the same color as the part of the ball where the student’s thumb lands. Then, the student spells that fruit or vegetable’s name while doing jumping jacks. There’s also the MyPlate Shuffle. In this activity, each food group is assigned a dance or exercise move. When the teacher flashes a picture of a certain food, students do the corresponding dance move to indicate its food group.

Jasinski has also learned how to incorporate yoga into her fitness lessons, and she has learned activities that allow the students to move around, even in a tight classroom space. Fit to Learn also includes sessions from medical experts on the latest pediatric research, including how the most prevalent childhood health issues can play out in the classroom and impact learning. The ultimate goal of the program, which is provided free of charge to teachers, is to empower teachers to change the culture of health and fitness at their schools.

Karen Pippen’s participation in Fit to Learn stemmed from her conviction that schools can no longer afford to ignore how health issues are impacting students. “The best place to talk about health is at school, because some children are just not getting it at home,” said Pippen, a resource teacher who works with special education and gifted students at Lincoln Elementary School in Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood. She also teaches an after-school health class twice a week.

Since her first Fit to Learn session in July 2011, Pippen has been able to incorporate health messages and physical activity into her class time. Five-minute dance breaks have helped her students release energy, then refocus on class work. She has woven nutrition information into her lessons, encouraging students to choose water over sugary juice, pick healthy snacks and cut back on excessive portions.

“The kids love it,” she said. Pippen knew the lessons were working when, one day, a couple of students noticed an empty potato chip bag in the class trash can. “Were those your chips?” they teased. “Was that a healthy choice?"

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As the year progresses, we'll share more about Health in Mind and
the progress of this initiative! For more information or to view the
full report, please visit www.healthinmind.org.

February 01, 2013

Today, the United States Department of Agriculture proposed national guidelines for competitive foods,
or foods sold to students on school grounds that are not part of the
National School Lunch Program or similar services. These include a la
carte cafeteria items and items sold in vending machines and school
stores. We are glad to see the USDA take this important step forward in
creating healthier school environments.

Schools
and students are changing, and as such, school food and school policy
must evolve with them. The National School Lunch Program began in 1945
as a means of fighting malnourishment, with a focus on achieving a minimum of calories and nutrients. For decades, this was the standard.

Now,
as childhood obesity and other chronic health problems reach staggering
rates and prevent students from achieving, reevaluating school food to
ensure access to nutritious meals and snacks is essential. Last year,
the USDA updated its guidelines for school meals for the first time in
15 years and shifted the focus from nutrient and calorie requirements to
a plan that involved more fruits and vegetables, more whole grains and
other common-sense adjustments. These changes were a crucial step in the
right direction. However, even with more nutritious school meals,
students are still met with less healthy options in the same cafeteria
line, or in on-campus vending machines. Creating a national standard for
competitive foods and creating an overall environment for healthier
choices is the next logical step. We need to allow for the healthy
choice to be the easy choice.

The
USDA has a 60-day comment period and, rest assured, the snack and
beverage industries will be making their perspectives heard during this
time. We'll
be calling on everyone who cares about healthy food and healthy kids to
speak up in support of strong and health-promoting guidelines.
Our commitment is to ensuring that all students have access to
nutritious food and a healthy school environment that will contribute to
healthy habits for life.

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